Karrnnel Sawitsky has taken singing in the shower to a whole new level. His favourite place to play music is the bathroom of his house. The acoustics are great, so he’ll stay in there for hours, his foot tapping out the rhythm on the white-tiled floor.

And the beat continues in his music career. Since 2009, he’s released three award-nominated albums. He’s written and co-written more than 200 songs. His newest single is called 101, a jazzy precursor to his solo album due out later this year. He travels Canada, performing and teaching in schools and at music camps and workshops. Behind the scenes, he’s dating prominent Saskatchewan actress Amy Matysio.

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The first thing you notice about Sawitsky are his piercing blue eyes. He knows they’re special — he gets a lot of admiring compliments. A light blue denim shirt makes his eyes pop even more, and slim charcoal jeans create a modern look. He sits comfortably in an oversized white leather chair in the living room of the modest character home he shares with Matysio in Saskatoon. The fiddling sensation has given hundreds of interviews but his responses never seem scripte. He laughs often and elaborates with funny stories about his band and his family.

Sawitsky grew up in Saskatoon, the youngest child and only son of Orest and Laura. His two older sisters, Kanndece and Kimberly also played the fiddle. Karrnnel took it up when he was just four.

“I think it was my parents’ master plan that we all played fiddle,” he laughs.

With his father on the accordion, the Sawitsky Family Fiddlers toured Canada throughout Sawitsky’s childhood and into his teenage years. Their show even included Ukrainian dancing and food with Laura becoming the group’s caterer.

Playing at community events, weddings and bar mitzvahs was the norm — the children didn’t play baseball like others their age.

“You don’t think of it as different or weird when you’re a kid because it’s just what you come to expect,” Sawitsky says.

There were times he would have preferred to play with his friends but now, when the family has the chance to play together, it’s pretty special.

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Sawitsky returned from a five-week tour in Europe two days before this interview. That morning, he was on local breakfast television and in the evening he flew to Toronto for work.

He and the Fretless (the quartet of Ray Bell, Troy MacGillivray, Daniel Koulack and Jake Charron) played shows in Germany, Switzerland and Holland.

The fans were more responsive than Sawitsky expected. They played soft-seat theatres, nightclubs and rocker dens. In Hamburg, they had an audience of 1,400 in a huge warehouse-style club with three levels and balconies all around the stage. It could have been challenging playing for a bunch of rock fans but Sawitsky has been in the business long enough to read an audience.

“People just love energy. We just found that you pour your energy on the stage. It didn’t need to be rock music or a specific genre. People just reacted to it really well. Knowing what your audience is transcends where you’re playing.”

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During the five weeks Sawitsky was in Europe, Matysio was filming a movie in Vancouver. They didn’t get to talk very much but it’s a part of their unique relationship that both accept. Sawitsky was away from Saskatchewan for over half of 2012 and Matysio just as much.

“We have a mutual understanding that there’s times it’s going to be tough for both of us, for different reasons,” he explains.

Fans of Facetime and Skype, Matysio says they’re very patient with each other as their schedules are often dependent on the whims of others. And when they do spend time together, the rest of the world is put on standby.

“We’re very precious of our time when we’re together. You forget how to do that if you’re constantly taking for granted someone is going to be there every single day.”

Jealousy can take a toll on any relationship but in order for one like theirs to work, trust is important.

“When we’re apart we’re still together,” she says. “At the end of the day if you know what your partner is doing and why they’re doing it and you support them. You just have to do that. If you didn’t, it would constantly be a battle.”

The pair is both creatively and artistically inclined, although in different fields. Their energies feed off of one another — Matysio and Regina videographer Preston Kanak came up with the concept for Sawitsky’s latest single 101, which they shot in New York last summer.

“I love what he does and he’s extremely talented,” says Matysio. “If there’s something I can bring to his work that I do, then it’s just really invigorating to work together. We have a lot of fun. Creatively, we can stay on the same page and not get up in each other’s grill,” says Matysio.

In the video, Sawitsky walks around the city, meeting people, hearing their stories and sharing his music. 101 has a jazzy New York feel. He composed the song knowing the video would be shot there. It has set the tone for his solo album, which will feature all original compositions. He’s going in a different direction than his past folk music work by incorporating French Canadian, jazz, groove and funk-influenced tracks.

“I really want to have a big collage of styles and not stick within one genre. My theme is fiddle music throughout the world.”

Sawitsky welcomes creative input and often works with a variety of musicians. Even Matysio lends a hand.

“I always ask Amy when she’s listening to something I’ve recorded what she hears. Whether it’s a colour, mood or theme; I don’t think there’s been one instance where what I’ve thought of that track is what she’s heard.”

Unfortunately, the couple may not be calling Saskatchewan home for much longer. They’re considering moving to Toronto, mostly for Matysio’s career. He says losing the film tax credit in the province has been a major blow for the industry.

For Matysio, the work has dried up but the people around it have left. If she wants to do something creative, a small, independent short film or a documentary piece, the best people are gone.

“It’s sad because I’ve had such a great career in the province and have been so supported by the province in film and television,” she says.

“It’s scary to think, is music next?” asks Sawitsky. “Are they going to cut funds to the Saskatchewan Arts Board and to SaskMusic? It’s all the same thing, it’s just a different artistic field.”

“If the government wants to try and define the way they fund each different kind of art form, then they’re going to kill art forms, because you have to be competitive with every other province and every other state. Otherwise, no one’s going to come here.”

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It’s been a long road for Sawitsky to turn music from a childhood hobby into a successful career. He always knew he what he wanted, he just wasn’t always sure how to make it happen. A concept that many in artistic fields understand, Sawitsky wanted a career to fall back on while pursuing music. He played junior hockey at Notre Dame College in Wilcox for two years after high school. He has an engineering degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Working in engineering gave him financial opportunities to expand his music that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

Over the past six years, his life has gradually become more about his music, yet he’s still involved with projects at Stantec, where he works part time. Part of the reason he’s been so successful at his double life is the relationship he’s formed with his employer. He says it’s about respect — it wouldn’t fly if he missed work because he was up the night before making music.

Sawitsky won the youth-oriented 30 Below award at the 2012 Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Arts Award in September. He and Matysio first met at the 2009 awards — each was nominated for the same award. They both lost. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It’s all about balance. Playing in fiddle contests from an early age taught him that.

“We both really love the statue of the little bird. It’s an honour. (But) like any award, I don’t put too much emphasis on it,” says Sawitsky.

The cliché “it’s an honour just to be nominated,” is true for him.

“If you get nominated and treat not winning as a loss, I think you’re just going to be putting yourself down.”

It’s this unpretentious attitude that has taken Sawitsky so far in the music industry. His inherent talent gets his foot in the door and his Prairie-raised humility will keep those doors open for years to come.

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